Freelancer Modding Tutorials

[Dusty Lens]

= Tutorial: How to make custom hitboxes =

By Frozen

Well, you aint a hotshot till you learn this foo.

This is a simple tutorial that should help one and all to make custom hitboxes for their ship models they create. one of the reasons of this tutorial is, you dont have to rely on a few number of people to make so many hitboxes, but anyone can learn and do em.

Making hitboxes is not hard whatsoever. trust me, if you can model, you CAN hitbox. to make things VERY simple for you, here is a download for the most essential tools i use (and you will use too in due course of time):

http://www.mediafire.com/file/wd2dicmnnzy/...lp_package1.rar

.RAR contains:

• HardCMP
  
• Milkshape 1.8.2
  
• Milkshape 1.7.0
  
• Milkshape CMP importer version 1
  
• Milkshape CMP exporter version 2
  
• MIlkshape SUR importer version 1
  
• Milkshape SUR exporter version 2
  
• Milkshape Convex tool version 1
  
• Milkshape Convex tool version 2
  
• Fl Model tool
  

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To install the milkshapes, simply run the installer, and follow the instructions to install. Once the software are done installing, its better if you register them. since both versions have their own keygens, you can proceed with registering the products safely. just remember, you CANNOT have the keygens running while you try to register your milkshape, it just wont work, so your best option is to write down the name you use and the key generated and enter it manually AFTER CLOSING THE KEYGEN.

To install the .dll files, simply open the folders where milkshape is installed. for example, the default location will most probably be C:/Program Files/Milkshape *version number*/
just copy + paste the .dlls into the folder, and close it. restart milkshape if you have it running, and when you open it after installing the .dlls, you should find the plugins working (check the File < import and export tabs to see that the plugins worked, and check the Tools tab to see if the convex tool plugin worked).






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Creating hitboxes for ships, or that matter anything in freelancer is easy. just remember one key point- you CANNOT have concave shapes in any hitbox you make. concave shapes render the hitbox useless (Freelancer's game engine seems to hate concave shapes). This is where the convex tool comes handy. no matter what shape you create, once your done with the task, select the box/cylinder/sphere you made, and click on the Tools tab, and then the Convex tool, and watch the magic of the tool unfold. if your shape has any concave shapes, it will beat it into a convex.

Right. to work then! Lets have a look at our interface first eh? Generally when doing hitboxes for freelancer, its best to stick to boxes and cylinders. spheres are rather complex and tend to go wrong almost everytime if you havent got the foggiest what your doing.

in this example, i will show how to make a hitbox for the infamous lane hacker gunship, model created by none other than our own Dude42. the first step will involve importing the CMP. after all, without the CMP, you cant really make a good fitting hitbox can you? we are'nt magicians!

by clicking on the CMP importer, a new window opens as the screenshot below shows. click on the Model button, and locate where the CMP for the hacker gunship is located. open it, and click import. having done that, you will now see an object fill the four small windows of milkshape.



normally, the first thing i do is click on the materials tab in the top right corner, and create a new material. i chose blue to help me differentiate between model and hitbox. you can choose any colour of your choice. the next step i normally do is save the current project. as Angel of Mercy suggested, i followed suit- i name all my projects in this format: *name*_sur. so in this case, it would be named something like Hacker gunship_sur, but you can choose any naming convention that fits your need.



now, lets begin making the actual hitbox. as you can see in the image below, i have used a series of cylinders and boxes to create a hitbox that covers the model rather well (there are a few parts of the model that can be seen through the hitbox, but regardless, if the hitbox works, the shots will register)

heres a screenshot of the completed hitbox:



however, to be on the safe side, im going to use the convex tool over my hitbox just to make sure that there is no concave shape in the hitbox ive created. notice how the hitbox i created is covered by a new set of boxes and cylinders, and notice in the groups list, you have names such as 'box01 convex', and 'cylinder01 convex'. this means that the convex tool worked its magic and edited the boxes and cylinders you made to make sure they remain convex. you can now delete the older boxes and cylinders you made, and select all the new boxes and cylinders that have the addition 'convex' to their name. once you select all the boxes/cylinders, save your work.



Congratulations, you have completed making a custom hitbox for your ship/model/base/etc. now, the second step. you need to export the model you made as a .SUR so that it works as a hitbox.

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You will need to delete any and all objects that are NOT part of your hitbox (in other words, the CMP needs to be deleted, not the boxes/cylinders you made to represent the hitbox) once you do that, click on the groups tag, and while having all your objects selected (done via ctrl + A, or by going to the Edit tab and finding the option in the list), you need to group them together. this is done by clicking on the Assign button above all the number buttons, and then clicking on the number 1. if done correctly, when you click click the 'Select' button, and then click on the number 1 button, you will be able to select all the groups you made altogether (since they are grouped as 1).



next step involves exporting the hitbox. click on File > Export > Sur Exporter 1.1, and you see a new window open up, with loads of options to tinker with before you end up exporting the hitbox.

you ONLY have to edit the options that ive highlighted in the screenshot below:

1. Name of the SUR will be the same name assigned to the CMP (which you will have to locate in the freelancer directory)
2. Scale down value must always be at 1
3. The 'Back to Front' option must be selected
4. The check-box next to the 'Disable DirectX Mesh Reduction' must be selected
5. You need to fill in the correct mass of the ship you made a hitbox for. (in this case, Shiparch states that the LH gunship's mass is 300, so i filled in 300 as the value)



This is where you will need to refer to the Shiparch.ini found in the freelancer directory, since you fill in some options when trying to export your custom hitbox. I normally export the hitbox to the desktop so its easily found, and would suggest you do the same. apparently, exporting the hitbox directly to the folder where the CMP (and old SUR) is present doesnt seem to work.

You're nearly done now! all you have to do is resize the hitbox using the fl Model tool i provided you in the .RAR To start off, you need to open the freelancer directory to where the CMP for the ship is located (in this case, since it is the hacker gunship, i open dude42's folder). copy and paste the hitbox you made into this folder, replacing the older hitbox with your new one. if you have hard CMP installed, you can open the CMP for the gunship and check the new hitbox. if you exported the SUR correctly, you should see the custom hitbox you made for the ship.



open the FL model tool, and in the CMP tab, open the CMP for the hacker gunship. in the SUR tab, open the custom hitbox you made. Click the Resize button. you should see a new window open up. click on the Scenery button in the 'SUR type' option, nothing else, and click OK, and then save it. you will get a prompt asking if you wish to replace the original. click yes, and close the fl model tool. if done correctly, you are now done making a custom hitbox for your ship, and it should work in game just well. congratulations, you are now officially a hotshot! *thumbs up*



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things to remember:

• Only fighters will use a shield bubble. shield bubbles for any capital ships you see will be disregarded by freelancer, since in game, any capital ship is classed as a freighter, and freighters use the actual hitbox as both a shield bubble AND actual hull- hitbox.
  
• even though the convex tool helps remove concave areas, try to stick to making rough convex shapes. remember, tools are there to help and fix errors, not redo all your work for you if you screw it up.
  
• always save your work on a regular basis. the worst thing that could happen to you is you putting collosal effort to get something done, and in the end you lose it all by some accident and your failure to save it.
  
• if you decide to take up modelling ships or bases for freelancer, do try to make a hitbox for it. after all, all those beautiful models you make deserve an excellent hitbox, not some shabby makeshift and awefully deformed and disfigured hitbox nicked from another ship model.
  
• if you decide that this tutorial helps ya, ill give you a cyber cookie.
  

Hope it helps, happy hitboxing!
Oh and i almost forgot. CREDITS!

yes, i didnt learn this all by myself, instead i had a variety of mentors too. Treewyrm (Yuri), Angel of Mercy (Ringo), and Silent Assasin (Chris) all helped me on my learning curve, and id like to thank em for it. kudos, dudes!